Preparing for the CAPM Exam with Free CAPM Questions and Answers
The world renowned CAPM certification is only 150 questions away. Certified Associates in Project Management (CAPM) certificate holders can boost their resume and show employers that they’re serious about the project management career path. It’s the perfect place to start if you want to go forward in your career towards becoming a Project Management Professional (PMP) and potentially earning $100k+. Plenty of studying is one of the most important things to keep in mind when taking any exam, and a good study plan should include example CAPM questions and answers.
Because CAPM certification requires only a secondary education and no work experience in project management, many people who are just starting out, look into taking the CAPM exam in order to get a certification. The CAPM application requires 23 contact hours of training and this is easily (and inexpensively) earned through a CAPM Exam Prep course.
If you’re wondering what type of questions are on the CAPM exam, we have the questions and the answers. Hopefully, the following 20 CAPM sample questions and answers will make your CAPM journey a little easier and give you an idea of what the exam will look like. Don’t be intimidated by these questions. Remember, they’re meant for someone who has already studied extensively or taken a CAPM Exam Prep course.
What type of questions are on the CAPM Exam?
By working within the Knowledge Areas in the PMBOK of the Project Management Book of Knowledge, we will provide 20 sample CAPM exam questions and answers below. We will go through the reasoning behind the answer and provide you with the corresponding Knowledge Areas in the PMBOK where the questions and answers are, in case you want to do some further study.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #1
A manager and the head of engineering discuss a change to a major work package. After the meeting, the manager contacts you and tells you to complete the paperwork to make the change. This is an example of:
A-) Management attention to scope management.
B-) Management planning.
C-) A project expediter position.
D-) A change control system.
Anwer: C. A project expediter position is the correct answer. By taking on the paperwork, the project manager is performing the duties of an administrative assistant. This example shows them working only on the paperwork and having no authorization to perform other duties. Scope management, planning, and change control systems aren’t part of the administrative duties the Project Manager assigned. The question and answer relate to the Organizational Influences and Project Lifecycle Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #2
During a team meeting, a team member asks about the measurements that will be used on the project to judge performance. The team member feels that some of the measures related to activities assigned to them are not valid measurements. The project is BEST considered in what part of the project management process?
A-) Initiating
B-) Executing
C-) Monitoring & Controlling
D-) Closing
Answer: B. Executing is the correct answer. The scenario shows the team member is measuring their activities because they aren’t sound. They are in the executing phase, where the goal is to ensure that the end results are generated. The executing phase of project management is when the team member projects deliverables to conduct most of the work they need to do. The question and answer relate to the Project Management Processes Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #3
Your company just won a major new project that will begin in three months. What is the FIRST thing you should do once you hear of the new project?
A-) Ask management how the new project will use resources
B-) Resource level your project
C-) Crash your project
D-) Ask management how the new project will affect your project
Answer: D. Ask management how the new project will affect your ongoing project is the correct answer. It’s important to understand how a new project will affect your current project. Evaluating the impact by asking management allows you to assess what if any impact the new project will have, for example personnel, overlap, budget, etc. The question and answer relate to the Integration Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #4
You are a new project manager who has never managed a project before. It would be BEST in this situation to rely on _____ during planning in order to improve your chance of success.
A-) Your intuition and training
B-) Stakeholder analysis
C-) Historical information
D-) Configuration management
Answer: C. Historical information is the correct answer. Knowing where similar projects have failed and succeeded helps your project have the best chance for success. Historical information from projects within your organization are available to help you. The question and answer relate to the Integration Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #5
During project executing, a team member comes to the project manager because he is not sure of what work he needs to accomplish on the project. Which of the following documents contain detailed descriptions of work packages?
A-) WBS Dictionary
B-) Activity List
C-) Project scope statement
D-) Scope management plan
Answer: A. WBS dictionary is the correct answer. Providing additional detail to the work packages in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) dictionary lists more than the short number of nouns or descriptors that are provided within the initial scope. The detailed information will include duties, responsibilities, prerequisites, due dates, and other data necessary to complete the deliverable. The question and answer relate to the Scope Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #6
During a meeting with some of the project stakeholders, the project manager is asked to add work to the project scope. The project manager had access to correspondence about the project before the project charter was signed and remembers that the project sponsor specifically denied funding for the scope mentioned by these stakeholders. The BEST thing for the project manager to do is to:
A-) Let the sponsor know of the stakeholders’ request.
B-) Evaluate the impact of adding the scope.
C-) Tell the stakeholders the scope cannot be added.
D-) Add the work if there is time available in the project schedule
Answer: C. Tell the stakeholder the scope cannot be added is the correct answer. Once the project baseline and scope are established, only authorized change requests can alter the scope baseline. Changes that don’t follow the approval process the team will focus only on the existing scope of work. Scope is specified in the question; however, the stakeholders were requesting new work. Only an approved change request will permit the team to alter the established scope project baseline and the stakeholders should be notified that the new work can’t be added. This question and answer relate to the Scope Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #7
Your project management plan results in a project schedule that is too long. If the project network diagram cannot change but you have extra personnel resources, what is the BEST thing to do?
A-) Fast track the project.
B-) Level the resources.
C-) Crash the project.
D-) Monte Carlo analysis.
Answer: C. Crash the project is the correct answer. From the question we see that the project schedule is too long, and in order to produce a shorter schedule, additional resources would be required. You have the additional personnel but the only way to change the diagram is to crash the project. Fast-tracking is not an option, nor is leveling resources or the Monte Carlo analysis. Fast tracking only works with activities executed in parallel. Leveling is to cover overloaded resources to distribute the tasks evenly, and the Monte Carlo analysis is irrelevant because it is used to estimate the risks on the cost and the timeline. Crashing the project is the choice to correct the problem. This question and answer relate to the Schedule Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #8
An activity has an early start (ES) of day 3, a late start (LS) of day 13, an early finish (EF) of day 9, and a late finish (LF) of day 19. The activity:
A-) Is on the critical path.
B-) Has a lag.
C-) Is progressing well.
D-) Is not on the critical path.
Answer: D. Is not on the critical path is the correct answer. Reviewing the early start and late start values of the activity in question, the float or slack of the time of the activity can be found. Subtract 3 days (ES) from 13 days (LS). The ten days left is the float available. You can also get the answer by taking the early finish day (EF) and subtracting it from the late finish day (LF), 19 – 9 = 10. Critical path activities have zero float so, the answer is D. This question and answer relate to the Schedule Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #9
Early in the life of your project, you are having a discussion with the sponsor about what estimating techniques should be used. You want a form of expert judgment, but the sponsor argues for analogous estimating. It would be BEST to:
A-) Agree to analogous estimating, as it is a form of expert judgment
B-) Suggest life cycle costing
C-) Determine why the sponsor wants such an accurate estimate
D-) Try to convince the sponsor to allow expert judgment because it is typically more accurate.
Answer: A. Agree to analogous estimating is the correct answer. The answer to this question is in understanding that analogous estimating is a form of expert judgment. Therefore, by accepting the sponsor’s suggestion you are still utilizing an accurate form of estimation. This question and answer relate to the Cost Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #10
A schedule performance index, SPI, of 0.75 means:
A-) Project is over budget.
B-) Project is ahead of schedule.
C-) Project is progressing at 75% of the rate originally planned
D-) Project is progressing at 25% of the rate originally planned
Answer: C. The project is progressing as originally planned is the correct answer. Answer A is part of the budget and not part of the schedule performance index. B is not applicable because if the project were ahead of schedule the SPI would be over 1. D is only showing that 25% of the project has progressed, which would mean that the SPI is 0.25. C, the correct answer, shows the SPI as 75% or 0.75. This question and answer relate to the Cost Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #11
You are the program level manager with several project activities underway. In the executing process group, you begin to become concerned about the accuracy of progress reports from the projects. What would BEST support your opinion that there is a problem?
A-) Quality Audits
B-) Risk Quantification Reports
C-) Regression Analysis
D-) Monte Carlo Analysis
Answer: A. Quality audits are the correct answer. Receiving clear, concise progress reports is paramount to the success of a project. Quality audits allow you to ensure that reports meet or exceed the standards of your organization. By examining and comparing the criteria that has been followed in projects where you are accountable, the quality audit allows you to find out if there is a problem in the current project. This question and answer relate to the Quality Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #12
You are a project manager for a major information systems project. Someone from the quality department comes to see you about beginning a quality audit of your project. The team, already under pressure to complete the project as soon as possible, objects to the audit. You should explain to the team that the purpose of a quality audit is:
A-) Part of an ISO 9000 investigation
B-) To check if the customer is following its quality process
C-) To identify inefficient and ineffective policies
D-) To check the accuracy of costs submitted by the team
Answer: C. Identifying inefficient and ineffective policies is the correct answer. Checking on the customer’s quality process and checking that the costs are submitted are correct, answers B and D, don’t apply. ISO 9000 is a principle-based international standard that describes a quality management system , not a certification of said standards and principles which require certification. Certification is through ISO 9001. Because the question doesn’t relate to the customer’s quality processes, the costs submitted by the team, nor the certification of the quality management system within the company, C, is the best answer. This question and answer relate to the Quality Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #13
During every project team meeting, the project manager asks each team member to describe the work he or she is doing, and the project manager assigns new activities to team members. The length of these meetings has increased because there are many different activities to assign. This could be happening for all the following reasons EXCEPT:
A-) Lack of a WBS
B-) Lack of a responsibility assignment matrix
C-) Lack of resource leveling
D-) Lack of team involvement in project planning
Answer: C. Lack of resource leveling is the correct answer. a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) may be the issue as vague points within the tasks may be causing more discussion and creating more explanation. If a responsibility assignment matrix isn’t followed, then the clarity needed to determine which team member is assigned to which task becomes uncertain. Ensuring that teams participate in the initial planning of the project gets the project started on the right foot, making sure that each team member knows what they are doing as well as having input into the process from the beginning.
A, B, and D are all possibilities for the increase of time involved in the project team meetings. Resource leveling is a problem with uniform scheduling of tasks and should have been done at the beginning of the project, so answer C is not the cause of the increase in the amount of time in the project team meetings. This question and answer relate to the Resources Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #14
Conflict resolution techniques that may be used on a project include confronting, smoothing, forcing, and:
A-) Withdrawing
B-) Directing
C-) Organizing
D-) Controlling
Answer: A. Withdrawing is the correct answer. Directing, Organizing, and Controlling are not part of conflict resolution techniques. These are all implements of the P-O-L-C, which are major functions of the planning phase. This question and answer relate to the Resources Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #15
All of the following about communication models is true EXCEPT:
A-) The sender encodes his thoughts and sends them to the receiver.
B-) Information is sent by the sender to the receiver with the assistance of the medium.
C-) The receiver acknowledges if he agrees with the information he received.
D-) The message is decoded by the receiver into thoughts.
Answer: C. The receiver acknowledges if he agrees with the information received is the correct answer. During any communication, the sender is in charge of transmitting the message. The message can be sent in a variety of ways, e-mail, text, etc. They must ensure the information is complete, concise, and correct. The sender must also be aware of how the message will be received. On the receiver’s end, they must make sure that they understand the message. The question and answer relate to the Communications Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #16
A project manager is quantifying risk for her project. She needs expert opinion in this process and related experts are spread over to different geographical locations. How can she continue?
A-) Using Monte Carlo analysis online
B-) Applying the critical path method
C-) Determine options for recommended corrective action
D-) Applying the Delphi Technique
Answer: D. Applying the Delphi Technique is the correct answer. The Delphi Technique seeks opinions on a topic or issue from experts anonymously. The feedback is then analyzed, and the findings are then sent back to the experts. This is done until all parties reach agreement. Since the other three answers don’t involve collecting answers from experts, the Delphi Technique is the most appropriate course of action to achieve the intended result. This question and answer relate to the Risk Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #17
During risk management activities, 236 risks have been identified which are caused by 13 root causes. You could eliminate the 234 risks by your risk management activities. For the remaining 2 risks, you, together with your team, could not find a way to mitigate or insure the risks. Also, these 2 risks cannot be outsourced or removed from project scope. What is the best solution?
A-) Accept the risk
B-) Mitigate the risk
C-) Avoid the risk
D-) Transfer the risk
Answer: A. Accepting the risk is the correct answer. There are times when there is no solution other than accepting the consequences. In this scenario, the project manager found there was no way to transfer, mitigate, or avoid 2 of the risks. Due to the uncertainty, the project, and in order to avoid other risks that could occur within the 13 root causes, the project manager must choose to accept the risk and create a contingency plan. This question and answer relate to the Risk Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #18
The project team is arguing about the prospective sellers who have submitted proposals. One team member argues for a certain seller while another team member wants the project to be awarded to a different seller. The BEST thing the project manager should remind the team to focus on in order to make a selection is the:
A-) Procurement documents
B-) Procurement audits
C-) Evaluation criteria
D-) Procurement management plan
Answer: C. Evaluation criteria is the correct answer. By applying precise metrics and providing specific categories, a project manager can focus the team to assess a potential seller. The standards set in the RFP (Requests for Proposal) give the team, and the project manager the tools required to award the bid to the best candidate. The argument is unproductive because the standards have already been set and the data collected from the RFPs reflects which seller should be awarded the contract. This question and answer relate to the Procurement Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #19
A project manager is in the middle of creating a request for proposal (RFP). What part of the procurement process is she in?
A-) Conduct procurements
B-) Plan Procurements
C-) Control Procurements
D-) Close Procurements
Answer: B. Plan procurements is the correct answer. The creation of a Request for Proposal (RFP) is a procurement document. Conducting procurements would be when the RFP is sent out for bid. Control Procurements aren’t valid until the contracts are signed and Closed Procurements don’t apply until the project is closed. This question and answer relate to the Procurement Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
CAPM Exam Sample Question & Answer #20
You want to group your project stakeholders based on their authority and involvement in the project. Which of the following is an appropriate model for this?
A-) Power/Interest Grid
B-) Power/Influence Grid
C-) Influence/Impact Grid
D-) Salience Model
Answer: B. Power/Influence Grid is the correct answer. The Power/Influence Grid and the Power/Interest Grid are similar. The Power/Influence grid helps you tune in to the project stakeholders who have the potential to make your project succeed or fail. This question and answer relate to the Stakeholder Management Knowledge Area in the PMBOK. Knowledge Area in the PMBOK.
If you were wondering what type of questions are on the CAPM exam, we hope the CAPM sample questions above give you an ideal place to start. These scenarios can be very helpful in assisting you when preparing for your CAPM certification exam, plus the answers we have provided can give you more points to focus on for additional study.
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